TWI821323B - stage device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a stage device in which an object is not easily affected by heat and has a high degree of design freedom. The stage device (100) is provided with: an air servo-driven slider (10); a first guide (12) that guides the movement of the slider (10) in the first direction; and an actuator (14) that moves in the second direction. The first guide member (12) and the second guide member (16) are driven to guide the first guide member (12) to move in the second direction.

Description

stage device

This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-161393 filed on August 30, 2018. All contents of this application are incorporated by reference into this specification. The invention relates to a carrier device.

A stage device for positioning an object in a first direction and a second direction orthogonal to the first direction is known. Conventionally, a stage device called a stack type, in which one guide is provided in each of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1). (prior technical literature) (patent document) Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-57558

(The problem that the invention wants to solve) In the stage device described in Patent Document 1, the stage is driven by a linear motor. Therefore, the heat generated by the coil of the linear motor may be transferred to the stage and the object placed on the stage, causing the object to Affected by heat. In addition, of course, we also want to ensure a high degree of design freedom when installing on a stage. The present invention was made in view of this situation, and its object is to provide a stage device in which an object is not easily affected by heat and has a high degree of freedom in design. (Technical means to solve problems) In order to solve the above problem, a stage device according to one aspect of the present invention includes: an air servo-driven slider; a first guide that guides the movement of the slider in the first direction; and an actuator that drives the slider in the second direction. 1 guide member; and the 2nd guide member guides the movement of the 1st guide member in the second direction. In addition, any combination of the above constituent elements, and the mutual replacement of the constituent elements and expressions of the present invention with devices, methods, systems, etc. are also effective as aspects of the present invention. (The effect of the invention) According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a stage device in which an object is not easily affected by heat and has a high degree of freedom in design.

In the following, the same or equivalent components, members, and processes shown in the drawings are given the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions are appropriately omitted. In addition, in order to facilitate understanding, the dimensions of the members in each drawing are appropriately enlarged or reduced. In addition, in each drawing, the embodiment is described and a portion of the components that are not important are omitted. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the stage device 100 according to the embodiment. For convenience of explanation, the following XYZ coordinate system is set as shown in the figure, that is, the first direction in which the first guide 12 (described later) extends is the X-axis direction, and the second direction in which the second guide 16 (described later) extends is The direction is set as the Y-axis direction, and the direction orthogonal to both is set as the Z-axis direction. In this embodiment, the first direction and the second direction are orthogonal to each other, but they are not limited to this. The stage device 100 is called a stacked XY stage, and positions an object in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. The stage device 100 includes a slider 10, a first guide 12, an actuator 14, two second guides 16, a table 18, and a control unit 30 (not shown in FIG. 1 ). In the following description, the side where the first guide 12 is disposed is regarded as the upper side with respect to the second guide 16 in the Z-axis direction. As will be described later, the slider 10 is driven in the X-axis direction by air servo drive. The first guide 12 is an elongated member elongated in the X-axis direction and guides the movement of the slider 10 in the X-axis direction. The actuator 14 drives the first guide 12 in the Y-axis direction. The second guide 16 guides the movement of the first guide 12 in the Y-axis direction. The workbench 18 is fixed to the sliding member 10 . On the table 18, for example, a processing object such as a semiconductor wafer is placed. By moving the first guide 12 in the Y-axis direction and the slider 10 in the X-axis direction, the table 18 can be moved in the XY direction to position the object in the XY direction. FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of the slider 10 and the first guide 12 taken from a plane orthogonal to the X-axis direction (that is, the YZ plane). The first guide 12 includes a bottom wall 32 , a first side wall 34 and a second side wall 36 . The bottom wall 32 is a flat plate member that is long in the X-axis direction, and has two main surfaces facing the Z-axis direction. The first side wall 34 is a vertical wall that is longer in the X-axis direction and is erected on the other end of the upper surface of the bottom wall 32 in the Y-axis direction. The second side wall 36 is the same as the first side wall 34 in that it is a long vertical wall in the X-axis direction and is erected in the Y-axis direction on the upper surface of the bottom wall 32 in a manner opposite to the first side wall 34 in the Y-axis direction. another side. The first side wall 34 and the second side wall 36 respectively have a first extending portion 34a and a second extending portion 36a extending opposite to each other. Therefore, the first side wall 34 and the second side wall 36 have an L-shaped cross-sectional shape. The sliding member 10 is a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped member and is accommodated inside the first guide 12 , that is, between the first side wall 34 and the second side wall 36 and the bottom wall 32 . One or a plurality of air cushions 40 are formed on each surface of the slider 10 facing the first guide 12, that is, the bottom surface 10a, the first side surface 10b, the second side surface 10c, and the upper surface 10d. The air cushion 40 ejects high-pressure gas supplied from an air supply system (not shown) to form a high-pressure gas layer between the air cushion 40 and the first guide 12 . Thereby, the slider 10 floats up from the first guide 12 while maintaining a slight gap. An air servo chamber 48 for driving the slider 10 is formed on the first side 10b facing the first side wall 34 and the second side 10c facing the second side wall 36 . That is, in this embodiment, two air servo chambers 48 are formed in the slider 10 . Thereby, the slider 10 can be controlled to rotate around the Z-axis. Differential exhaust grooves 42 , 44 , and 46 are formed on each surface of the slider 10 so as to surround the air cushion 40 . The exhaust groove 42 releases air to the atmosphere. In addition, the exhaust tank 42 may also be connected to an exhaust pump (not shown). The exhaust grooves 44 and 46 are respectively connected to exhaust pumps (not shown) for setting the pressure in the exhaust groove to a low vacuum pressure level and a medium vacuum pressure level, and the air cushion 40 and air from the sliding member 10 are The compressed gas supplied to the internal space of the servo chamber 48 is discharged to the outside. In this way, the compressed gas is prevented from leaking from the gap between the first guide 12 and the sliding member 10, and the stage device 100 can be used in a vacuum environment. In addition, when the stage device 100 is used in an atmospheric pressure environment, there is no need to provide such exhaust grooves 42, 44, and 46. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view along line A-A in Figure 2 . Referring to FIG. 3 , the principle of movement of the sliding member 10 relative to the first guide member 12 will be described. The stage device 100 further includes two partition walls 56 . In FIG. 3 , the gap between the first guide 12 and the slider 10 or the gap between the partition wall 56 and the air servo chamber 48 is exaggerated. In practice, these gaps are, for example, on the order of several microns. The partition wall 56 is fixed to the first guide 12 and divides the air servo chamber 48 of the slider 10 into two air servo chambers 48A and 48B in the X-axis direction. The two air servo chambers 48A and 48B are respectively connected to air supply systems 50A and 50B for allowing compressed gas to enter and exit. The gas supply systems 50A and 50B respectively include servo valves 52A and 52B and compressed gas supply sources 54A and 54B. When compressed air is supplied to the air cushion 40 , the slider 10 floats slightly relative to the first guide 12 as described above. In this state, for example, if compressed gas is supplied to the air servo chamber 48A and the compressed gas is discharged from the air servo chamber 48B, the partition wall 56 functions as a piston and moves the slider 10 to the left in the figure. In this way, by controlling the opening of the servo valves 52A and 52B, the first guide 12 can be moved to an arbitrary position relative to the slider 10 . Here, the sliding member 10 is formed with two air servo chambers 48, and each air servo chamber 48 is connected to two air supply systems. That is, a total of four air supply systems are connected to the sliding member 10, but it is not limited to this. . For example, one air supply system 50A may be branched to supply compressed gas to two air servo chambers 48A, and one air supply system 50B may be branched to supply compressed gas to two air servo chambers 48B. Furthermore, for example, the slider 10 may be formed with only one air servo chamber 48, and the air supply systems 50A and 50B may be connected to the air servo chambers 48A and 48B that divide the air servo chamber 48. That is to say, only two air supply systems can be connected to the sliding member 10 . Returning to FIG. 1 , the second guide 16 supports the first guide 12 movably in the Y-axis direction. In this embodiment, the two second guides 16 are provided on both sides of the actuator 14 in the X-axis direction, and particularly are provided at an equal distance from the actuator 14 in the X-axis direction. The structure of the second guide 16 is not particularly limited, but in the example shown in the figure, it is a linear guide, including: a rail 24 extending in the Y-axis direction; and a slider 26 fixed to the first guide 12 The lower surface of the bottom wall 32 travels on the rail 24 while supporting the first guide 12 . FIG. 4 shows a cross-section of the stage device 100 cut from a plane orthogonal to the Y-axis direction (that is, the XZ plane). Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in Figure 4 . In FIG. 5 , the gap between the fixed body 72 and the movable body 70 or the gap between the partition wall 74 and the air servo chamber 80 is exaggeratedly drawn. In practice, these gaps are, for example, on the order of several microns. The structure of the actuator 14 is not particularly limited, but in the example shown in the figure, it is an air servo actuator and includes a movable body 70 , two fixed bodies 72 and two partition walls 74 . The two fixed bodies 72 are vertical walls that are long in the Y-axis direction and are arranged at intervals in the X-axis direction. The movable body 70 is a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped member, is arranged between the two fixed bodies 72 , and is fixed to the lower surface of the bottom wall 32 of the first guide 12 . On each side of the movable body 70 facing the fixed body 72 , that is, on the first side 70 a facing the one fixed body 72 and the second side 70 b facing the other fixed body 72 , there are formed holes for driving the movable body. The air servo chamber 80. The partition wall 74 is fixed to the fixed body 72 and divides the air servo chamber 80 of the movable body 70 into two air servo chambers 80A and 80B in the X-axis direction. The two air servo chambers 80A and 80B are respectively connected to air supply systems 90A and 90B for allowing compressed gas to enter and exit. Gas supply systems 90A, 90B include servo valves 92A, 92B and compressed gas supply sources 94A, 94B, respectively. In addition, the movable body 70 is moved through the first guide 12 in such a manner that the inner surface of the air servo chamber 80 and the partition wall 74 are in non-contact, that is, there is a gap between the inner surface of the air servo chamber 80 and the partition wall 74 . Two second guides 16 support. For example, when compressed gas is supplied to the air servo chamber 80A and the compressed gas is discharged from the air servo chamber 80B, the partition wall 74 functions as a piston and moves the movable body 70 to the left direction in the figure. In this way, by controlling the opening of the servo valves 92A and 92B, the movable body 70 and the first guide 12 can be moved in the Y-axis direction. In addition, two air servo chambers 80 are formed in the movable body 70 , and each air servo chamber 80 is connected to two air supply systems. That is, a total of four air supply systems are connected to the movable body 70 . However, this is not limited to this. For example, one air supply system 90A may be branched to supply compressed gas to two air servo chambers 80A, and one air supply system 90B may be branched to supply compressed gas to two air servo chambers 80B. Furthermore, for example, the movable body 70 may be formed with only one air servo chamber 80 , and the air supply systems 90A and 90B may be connected to the air servo chambers 80A and 80B that divide the air servo chamber 80 . That is, only a total of two air supply systems may be connected to the movable body 70 . FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the function and structure of the control unit 30. Regarding the blocks shown here, in terms of hardware, they can be implemented by components or mechanical devices represented by a computer's CPU (central processing unit), and in terms of software, they can be implemented by computer programs. etc., but here are functional blocks that can be realized by the cooperation of these. Therefore, those skilled in the art mentioned in this specification should understand that these functional blocks can be implemented in various forms through a combination of hardware and software. The control unit 30 includes a floating control unit 62 and a movement control unit 64 . The floating control unit 62 controls the flow rate of the compressed gas ejected from the air cushion 40 in order to float the slider 10 relative to the first guide 12 . The movement control unit 64 controls the flow rate of the compressed gas supplied to the air servo chamber 48 in order to move the slider 10 . Furthermore, the movement control unit 64 controls the flow rate of the compressed gas supplied to the air servo chamber 80 in order to move the movable body 70 of the actuator 14 . Next, the effects exerted by this embodiment will be described. Here, for example, when the slider 10 is driven by a linear motor, the coil of the linear motor generates heat, and the heat may be transferred to the slider 10 , the workbench 18 fixed to the slider 10 , and the workbench 18 object. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the slider 10 is servo-driven by air. In this case, the compressed gas supply sources 54A and 54B that generate heat can be kept away from the slider 10 and the table 18, and the heat transfer to the slider 10 and the table 18 can be suppressed. That is, the heat transferred to the object can be reduced. On the other hand, since the first guide 12 is present between the actuator 14 and the table 18 , even if the actuator 14 generates heat, the heat is difficult to be transferred to the table 18 or the object placed on the table 18 . Therefore, in this embodiment, the structure of the actuator 14 is not particularly limited, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in design. That is, according to this embodiment, it is possible to provide a stage device in which the heat transmitted to the object is suppressed and the design freedom is high. Furthermore, in this embodiment, two second guides 16 are provided on both sides of the actuator 14 in the X-axis direction. Thereby, compared with the case where the second guide 16 is provided only on one side of the actuator 14 in the X-axis direction, the first guide 12 can be supported movably in the Y-axis direction more stably. The stage device according to the embodiment has been described above. Those skilled in the art will understand that this embodiment is only an example and that various modifications can be made to the combination of each component, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, the embodiments can be combined with each other. (Modification 1) In the embodiment, the case where the actuator 14 is an air servo actuator has been described, but the invention is not limited to this. The actuator 14 only needs to be able to drive the first guide 12 in the Y-axis direction. For example, it may be a linear motor, a voice coil motor, or a combination of a rotary motor and a ball screw. (Modification 2) In the embodiment, the case where the second guide 16 is a linear guide has been described, but the invention is not limited to this. The second guide 16 may be an air guide, for example. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a stage device 100 according to a modified example. Figure 7 corresponds to Figure 4. In this modification, the second guide 16 includes a guide shaft 124 extending in the Y-axis direction, and a cylindrical second slider 126 capable of moving along the guide shaft 124 with the guide shaft 124 inserted therethrough. In addition, in the example shown in the figure, the guide shaft 124 is in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped and the second slider 126 is in the shape of a square column. However, it is not limited thereto. For example, the guide shaft 124 may be in a cylindrical shape and the second slider 126 may be in a cylindrical shape. Cylindrical shape. The second sliding member 126 has a slight gap with respect to the guide shaft 124, and compressed air is ejected from an air cushion (not shown) provided inside the second sliding member 126, thereby allowing the second sliding member 126 to slide smoothly along the guide shaft 124. move. Furthermore, in this modification, the floating control unit 62 further controls the flow rate of the compressed gas ejected from the air cushion provided inside the second slider 126 in order to float the second slider 126 relative to the guide shaft 124 . Here, if the slider 10 moves in the X-axis direction along the first guide 12, a load change may occur on the first guide 12, causing the first guide 12 to tilt around the Y-axis direction, causing the actuator 14 to move in the direction of the Y-axis. The movable body 70 generates a torque around the fixed body 72 . As a result, damage may occur due to contact between the movable body 70 and the fixed body 72 . In particular, in this modification, the movable body 70 floats due to the pressure of the gas. Therefore, if a torque around the fixed body 72 is generated in the movable body 70, damage may easily occur. Therefore, in this modification, in order to obtain sufficient floating rigidity against the load variation that may occur on the first guide 12 due to the movement of the slider 10 , in other words, in order to suppress or prevent the first guide 12 from being caused by the load variation. The sinking and rising control unit 62 controls the flow rate of the gas ejected from the air cushion provided inside the second slider 126 . Specifically, for example, regarding the floating control portion 62 , when the slider 10 moves to one side of the first guide 12 relative to the actuator 14 , the second slider of the second guide 16 from this side can be added. The flow rate of the gas ejected from the air cushion 126 can also be reduced or the gas ejection stopped from the air cushion of the second slider 126 of the second guide 16 on the other side, or these can be used simultaneously. The same is true when the actuator 14 moves to the other side of the first guide 12 . (Modification 3) In the embodiment, the case where the two second guides 16 are fixed to the first guide 12 so as to be located on the opposite side with respect to the actuator 14 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The stage device 100 Only one second guide 16 may be provided, or three or more second guides 16 may be provided. Any combination of the above-described embodiments and modifications can also be put into practical use as an embodiment of the present invention. A new embodiment produced by combination has the respective effects of the combined embodiments and modifications. In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that the functions to be performed by each component described in the claimed scope can be realized by a single component of each component shown in the embodiments and modifications or by a combination thereof. .

10‧‧‧Sliding parts 12‧‧‧1st Guide 14‧‧‧Actuator 16‧‧‧2nd guide 100‧‧‧Carrying device

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the stage device according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the X-axis guide and the X-axis slider of FIG. 1 . Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view along line A-A in Figure 2 . FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the stage device of FIG. 1 . Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in Figure 4 . FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the function and structure of the control unit. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the stage device.

10‧‧‧Guide slide

12‧‧‧1st Guide

14‧‧‧Actuator

16‧‧‧2nd guide

18‧‧‧Workbench

24‧‧‧Track

26‧‧‧Slider

32‧‧‧Bottom wall

70‧‧‧Mobile objects

72‧‧‧Fixed body

74‧‧‧Partition Wall

80‧‧‧Air servo room

100‧‧‧Carrying device

Claims (3)

A stage device, characterized by comprising: an air servo-driven slider; a first guide to guide the movement of the slider in a first direction; an actuator to drive the first guide in a second direction; and The second guide guides the movement of the first guide in the second direction. The first guide is an air guide, and the second guide is a linear guide. The stage device described in claim 1 of the patent application, wherein the first direction is orthogonal to the second direction. In the stage device described in claim 1 or 2 of the patent application, the second guide is provided on both sides of the actuator.